Mælefjell Tunnel

Mælefjell Tunnel
	Hall in the tunnel, December 2019
Overview
Official name	Mælefjelltunnelen
Other name(s)	Århus-Gvammen (project)
Location	Upper Telemark, Telemark, Norway
Coordinates	59°33′35″N 08°41′14″E
Route	E134
Crosses	Mælefjell [no]
Start	Århus, Seljord, Telemark, Norway
End	Gvammen, Hjartdal, Telemark, Norway
Operation
Work begun	2013
Opened	19 December 2019
Owner	Government of Norway
Operator	Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Traffic	Automotive
Character	Rapid transit
Toll	Free
Vehicles per day	c. 1700-2750 ; (Based on 2006 traffic counts)
Technical
Design engineer	NCC
Length	9.355 km (5.813 mi)
No. of lanes	2
Operating speed	80 km (50 mi)
Width	10.5 m (34 ft)
Route map
	Route map of the Mælefjell Tunnel

The Mælefjell Tunnel (Norwegian: Mælefjelltunnelen) is a 9.35-kilometre-long (5.81 mi) road tunnel along the European route E134 highway in Telemark county, Norway. The southern end of the tunnel is located at Århus on the north side of the village of Seljord in Seljord Municipality. The northern end of the tunnel is at Gvammen, just east of the village of Hjartdal in Hjartdal Municipality. The tunnel was opened on 19 December 2019, as Norway's seventh longest road tunnel. It is part of the European route E134 highway, and upon its completion, it made the highway about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) shorter, saving trucks about 18 minutes of driving time between those two places. Construction started in 2013 and the breakthrough occurred on 3 May 2017.^[1]

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The tunnel was built to shorten the travel time along the European route E134 highway and provide better accessibility especially for heavy vehicles by avoiding the Åsebrekken pass, as well as increasing traffic safety along a congested section of road. The 9,355-metre (30,692 ft) long tunnel passes beneath the mountain Mælefjell. A total of 11.7 kilometres (7.3 mi) of new road was built, replacing 22.6 kilometres (14.0 mi) of the former route through Flatdal. The project was financed by the government of Norway. The total cost was 2 billion kr.^[2]^[3]